Manthratalk: The First Word

Focus

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

CNN’s faux pas on its first segment based on Hinduism may not
be as innocent as it looks, it has the potential to evolve in to structured
discrimination of Hindus. CNN’s Believer’s
first segment on Hinduism reminds one of a dangerous precedent from the past. This
is exactly the type of misrepresentation with partial and selective expositions
that could lead to misunderstandings, which can eventually lead to
discrimination and mistreatment of fellow human beings. In case of Hindus this
had already happened once with regards to Roma (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8136812.stm)
who were considered heathens during the early modern period while subjecting
them to discrimination and mistreatment across Europe, this discrimination only
increased later pushing the Roma into gas chambers during Nazi era. The Roma
are still subjected to continued discrimination across Europe (http://romafacts.uni-graz.at/index.php/history/third-migration-emancipation-process/third-migration).
Roma are the untouchables of Europe, tucked away from public gaze. Roma are not
allowed to live in decent neighborhoods, not hired for jobs, and their children
are constantly subjected to harassment and bullying in society and educational
institutions. Television series like the Believer
aired on CNN last night does nothing to further understanding of spirituality
in Hinduism, but can create and perpetrate similar discriminatory attitudes
towards Hindus across the world. The footage is filled mostly with disgusting
imagery, containing filth, disgusting images, comical drama, that appeared
distasteful, uncultured, and bizarre. Aslan’s explanations of caste, karma, and
sect are all misinformed, amateurish at best. Karma binds soul to the world of maya. How can one understand karma
without understanding maya? This is
exactly the central issue with learning about Hinduism, which is subjected to selective
interpretations to push well-known categories and classification introduced by
colonial administration with a view to control the masses of India. It presents
only half of what the theory karma purports according to Hinduism. I am not
going to discuss caste, maya, and
karma here for lack of space, but part of the problem also rests with the current
system of knowledge, which only offers partial and misleading representations
of Hinduism.

The film is located in Banaras, focusing on understanding the
Aghori tradition from inside out. It involved the author mostly roaming through
Banaras, zooming in and out of shots taken on the banks of Ganges, interspersed
with snippets of interviews with whoever agreed to talk to Aslan. The theatrics
of Aslan’s conversion with Aghoris on the banks of Ganges is beyond
reprehensible. Although Aghori sampradaya
(Saiva monks in Kapalika tradition) known as a tradition beginning five hundred
years ago, much of its history is shrouded in mystery; its media discovery and
fascination is only recent, dating to only the last two decades or so. Although
there were a number of other media expositions on Aghori tradition, none are as
amateurish as this one. Another film on the same subject, National Geographic’s
Taboo, is much more carefully filmed
and contextualized philosophically. Although the series, Believer, is billed as
a documentary, its presentation on Aghoris, is sloppy at best and can be
described as a failed attempt to understand the current state of Hindu faith. As
much as it begins with the faulty assumption that any one can go on a short
trip and learn about any religion by immersing oneself in esoteric rituals for
a short time, its failure is apparent in its format of TV presentation. This
assumption is further exasperated, when such experience is filmed for worldwide
showing, which qualifies as reality TV rather than documentary. To top it off the
whole process is marred by immature presentation and explanations filled with
mistaken notions of Aslan that can lead to dangerous consequences. If there is
anything that came out of this bizarre theatrics on the banks of Ganges, it is
that Aslan emerged as a competent reality TV star.

Even though a first look at the film leaves one horrified, as
most of its footage contains shocking imagery to elicit sensation, even a bit
of disgust, a careful second look of the film confirms only mediocrity and lack
of authentic research on the part of its maker. With such sloppy sensationalist
approaches it is unlikely that it might have any perceptible benefits of
informing the public of religion. It is questionable if he had any goals for
this episode on Hinduism rather than indulge in his comical trip through the
most esoteric sects one could find.

All that is accomplished by Aslan in this episode is confusing
class (varna) with caste (jati). The classification that he showed of the five
castes is a mistaken system of classes adopted from Western understanding of
Hinduism, long debunked by Historians (see
Bernard Cohn, S.N. Balagangadhara, and Michael Wood). I don’t know if it demonstrates
the naiveté or utter lack of knowledge on the part of Aslan that asserts caste
is about purity and pollution, while in reality it is about professional
divisions. Also the pyramid Aslan showed in regard to castes is in fact classes
(varnas) and not castes (jati). Another important feature Aslan ignores is
that, caste is a cultural feature of India common to all religions of India,
and not specifically Hindu in its nature. FYI Aslan, Islam also has castes in
India, and Islamic lower castes are given reservations based on caste system by
the government of India. The current understanding of caste is brought on by colonial
systematization of caste in India while neatly arranging it in a tiered system
akin to that of the medieval social system found in Europe. Showing this tiered
diagram to explain caste is as faulty as explaining feudalism in the medieval
European society with a similar tiered diagram. Caste is dynamic and diverse
across India. Caste is neither uniform across India nor tiered as neatly as
demonstrated by Aslan on the show. I suggest Aslan read social scientists such
as Bernard Cohn (An Anthropologist Among
Historians; Structure and Change in
Indian Society) and Sumit Guha (Beyond
Caste) to understand the nuanced and diverse social structure of caste in India.

More over India has moved away from caste 67 years ago when
it adopted its new constitution in 1950, which provides most sweeping and
generous social program of the world based on caste. The reservation system
mandated in the constitution provides, scheduled castes, tribes and backward
castes with a reserved 50% of seats in all educational institutions for all available
specializations, as well as in all government jobs, and public offices.
Students based on their status of belonging to schedules caste, tribes or
backward castes performing well below average are admitted and educated at no
cost to the families with generous scholarships and provided jobs, and job
related promotions. This is not limited to one generation or first generation
college students, but for all people belonging to the scheduled castes, tribes,
and backward castes. Nowhere in the world is such a generous program of social
benefits ever enacted in the history of mankind. It is one of the bedrocks of
Indian democracy even though it creates a system of privilege for reserved
categories in public office, employment and promotions.

The filth and dirt of the ghats and Ganga River may have been
cleaned by the temples if only they had the resources and wherewithal to do so.
Alas they are prevented from doing so by the government of India, which took
over their resources and management, taking away the donations of Hindu temples,
while at the same time all minority religions of India are allowed to
administer their religious and religiously affiliated institutions
independently with tax free status (https://www.amazon.com/Crimes-Against-India-Tradition-Hinduism/dp/1440111588).
What would be the uproar in the USA if such act were to be passed in the USA in
which government takes over all the Churches and their resources, freely using
their resources to support other minority religions such as Islam and Judaism?
This skewed system of religious
institutions act of India 1951 unfairly treats Hinduism and Hindu temples, rendering
Hindu organizations helpless, fending for themselves on meager resources, while
Hindu temples and sacred spaces are not maintained and face utter negligence
under government administration. State governments monopolize the income from Hindu
temples using it for any purpose they may deem fit, even allocating funds to
other minority religions such as Islam. Endowment boards are corrupt, thus
further in the mismanagement of funds.

Overarching remarks in opposition to Hinduism, such as the
one in which Aslan says,“more and more Hindus are attracted to ideals of
Aghoris,” making it seem like social service and caring for the fellow beings
are the ideals of only Aghoris and not part of Hinduism in general. The ideals
that Aslan so painstakingly characterizes as Aghori ideals are merely Hindu
ideals, which have always guided all Hindus for over 5 thousand years. Hindu
social service is not negated merely because Aslan refuses to acknowledge it in
this film. Does that mean all the social service activities undertaken by all of
the Hindu organizations for thousands of years suddenly come to naught as soon as
he discovered the Aghoris? And that too only one person, an Aghori, reformed (Bhagavan
Ram) at that remains to be the sole representative of Hindu ideals and inspires
others? What about the rest of the billion Hindus? What about Ramanandis,
Srivaishnavas, Chaitanya traditions? What about the present day sadhus, Sri Sri
(founder of Art of Living), Sadhguru (Isha Foundation), Chinna Jeeyaswami, and
many more Hindu sadhus known for their service?

What this show is trying to accomplish, by presenting contradictory
aspects of Aghoris simultaneously, is to drive home unsubstantiated criticism
of Hinduism: On the one hand the show
accurately presented strange practices of Aghoris, depicting it as one of the
most bizarre sects of Hinduism, not commonly an acceptable practice among
Hindus. On the other hand, he inaccurately presented Hinduism as callous
towards the underclass. In addition, Aslan also tried to present Aghori as the
most moral sect of Hinduism, negating all other benevolent practices and ideals
of Hinduism, thus rendering mainstream Hinduism as heartless. Aslan at times took
drastic measures to present Aghori as the most benevolent practice of Hinduism,
while negating all other services and ideals held by Hinduism and numerous Hindu
practitioners and Sadhus with sweeping generalizations. Monastic traditions
across India accept followers and serve without placing any limitations on
caste; several groups also have female orders. His shortsighted presentation
only reveals his utter lack of knowledge and lethargy to consult current
research and subject experts.

Effectively what Aslan is doing in this film is incorrect. It
cannot be considered an inadvertent faux pas committed by Aslan, since he is
experienced with writing and media presentation. It seems that he intentionally
presented Aghori as the option of
Hinduism, successfully adding one more stereotype, in addition to the
stereotypes that already exist in connection with Hinduism. Hence, the blame
rests equally with Aslan as well as the CNN that chose to air the show. It
seems to suggest that as bizarre as it might seem Aghoris may be one of the
best options of Hinduism. He repeatedly and mistakenly characterized Hinduism
as based on caste and hence not caring for its fellow beings. With one sweeping
generalization he negates the 5 millennia of history of Hinduism to push his agenda
of presenting Aghoris as the only acceptable spiritual practice among Hindus.
What does this do for Hindus across the world? It presents them as insolent, apathetic,
given to callous tendency bound by karma. What is the consequence of such far-reaching
conclusion in presenting a strange sectarian group of monks as holding higher
ideals than the whole of Hinduism followed by approximately one billion Hindus?
This faulty presentation outlines mainstream Hindus to be subjected to ridicule
and discrimination.

An immediate and short-term solution for this issue is that Hindus
and Hindu leaders must not shy away from asserting their own practice and
denouncing what is presented on this show. Even better, Hindus must banish CNN,
its falsehoods and misrepresentations. Hindus and friends of Hindus (may they
be Muslim, Christian, Zoroastrian, and Jewish Indians) must boycott CNN-IBN
channel as well as their annual awards as a symbol of their insincere coverage.

The only long term solution for such misrepresentations and
stereotyping is in offering more education on Hinduism. A good beginning would
be to start with reforming educational curriculum in primary and secondary
schools. Hinduism should be taught as the benevolent religion that it is,
rather than a callous faith with rigid caste boundaries.

Friday, February 17, 2017

Asia needs a powerful regional treaty alliance for defense
cooperation. Asian nations should cooperate not only in trade, but also in
military and defense strategy, jointly developing techniques to counter
terrorism and regional military threats. Asian Treaty Alliance might be
the answer to a number of geo-political issues of Asian nations especially the
South Asian and the Southeast Asian countries. Fragile foreign relations also
affect the economic relations thus hampering growth and development of the
region. It is the only way like-minded nations with similar political structure
can come together to impact change in the region.

Asian nations are still locked in the political and economic
relations handed down to them in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
through their colonial rulers. Even though most of the nations obtained
independence in the twentieth century, they still fail to utilize
self-determination in their foreign relations. India should aim to correct its
course of history by re-aligning itself with long lost friends in the Indian
Ocean region. It is time for Asian nations to think beyond their geo-political
neighborhood and foster an Asian Treaty alliance aimed to preserve peace and
prosperity in the region.

India if it plans to be member of an association for economic
and defense cooperation it should look towards the Indian Ocean. India should
take lead in developing an association similar to the NATO (North Atlantic
Treaty Organization) by including other states on the Indian Ocean economic
zone. Indian Ocean Treaty alliance could include democratic nations such as
Japan, Thailand, Australia, Phillippines, Vietnam, and South Africa.

China is landlocked on its northern borders and is limited in
its sea access by its close neighbors. In this close China is resorting to
techniques to force its neighbors to surrender to its expanding sphere of
influence. China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines and Brunei have competing
claims on South China Sea. As its international arbitration bid failed
recently, China is coming back with a renewed vigor to establish superiority in
the region, which has recently faced a setback in the international court of
arbitration with Philippines. With China militarizing heavily on its land and
water borders, it is more than ever necessary for Asian democratic nations to
not only come together in temporary gesture of cooperation, but a permanent
treaty alliance.

India is in a geographical bind, surrounded by states that
are steeped either in political turmoil brought on by terrorism (Pakistan and
Bangladesh) or crushed under the weight of totalitarian regimes (China and
Iran). India’s immediate neighbors, such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal, although
considered democratic states, suffer under the shadows of military coup in
their recent past. Brexit has recently proved that a nation does not always
have to remain in alliance with its immediate neighbors, but could foster
relations with far off neighbors in order to optimize economic progress and
development. Any association dictated by geographical proximity rather than
political, social and economic ideals is bound to fail in the face of crisis. Therefore,
India must look beyond its geographical border to foster stronger relations as
it embarks on its path of progress and development.

India’s geographical fate is further complicated by the international
economic and political cooperation (SAARC- South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation) and NAM-Non Aligned Movement) groups it is part of, which also
include some of these troubled countries in its neighborhood. SAARC (South
Asian Association for Cooperation) represents an acronym that could not be
easily understood. The acronym is a true representation of the hodge-podge of
states that it includes. Other than geographical proximity of its member states
(India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, Srilanka, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and
Afghanistan) are completely different from each other in political, economic
and social structures. It is strange that Myanmar is still not a member of this
group. Similar is the case with NAM. India joined the Non Aligned Movement with
Nehru's initiative with lofty goals, but due to the nature of states that
joined it, there is very little that it accomplished. It exists only in name,
while a number of its members are currently in conditions that are similar to
civil war, no diplomatic or military initiative is ever undertaken by this
group. Emerging crises have rendered the NAM become an association that holds
periodic meetings with no significant contributions. Half of the nations
that are members of this group, such as Algeria and Egypt are struggling with
internal terrorist organizations, while some states such as Zambia, Cuba, and
Iran are still struggling to establish democratic states. India is the only
stable, and established democracy in this group of nations. With the internal
and external terror threats, and border disputes, it is impossible for NAM to
progress beyond the basic economic cooperation.

Any association dictated by geographical proximity rather than political,
social and economic ideals is bound to fail in the face of crisis. Half of the
nations that are members of this group are struggling with internal terrorist
organizations, and some are still struggling to establish democratic states.
India is the only stable, and established democracy in this group of nations.

Hence it is time for India to look beyond its geographical region to think
strategically and join a treaty alliance with a view to obtain military and
diplomatic cooperation in addition to economic development. India if it plans
to be member of an association for economic and defense cooperation it should
look towards the Indian Ocean. India should take lead in developing an
association similar to the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) by
inviting democratic nations on the Indian Ocean economic zone such as Vietnam,
Malaysia, Thailand, Australia and Japan. Asia needs a powerful regional
association of cooperation. These nations should cooperate not only in trade,
but also in military and defense strategy, jointly developing techniques to
counter terrorist and military threats.

Each
major historic event in India left a number of Indians displaced and lost to
History. The first waves of such lost children of India begins in the tenth
century with the beginning of Muslims raids into India under Mohammad Ghori and
Ghazni and only continue under British rule until the 20th century.
A thousand years of displacements and disenfranchisement left millions of
Indians across the globe. It is time for India to recognize and grant its lost
children some type of overseas citizenship.

Caribbean and African Diaspora Hindus of
the 19th and 20th Centuries

British
colonial government permitted numerous colonial enterprises to use exploitative
recruitment tactics to lure young men and women seeking work. They transported
them long distances across the oceans. Such workers were called indentured
laborers and were only provided minimal facilities. Wherever it is possible the
British companies or landlords posted the newly arrived indentured laborers at
barracks only then evacuated by the slaves on numerous plantations across the
world from Eastern African countries and South Africa to the West Indies. The
story is not much different from Fiji to Guyana. It is the same exploitation.
The indentured have no way of connecting with their families back in India, nor
did they have facilities to practice their religion or culture. Most of them
lost touch with their families and the place of their origin. They did not even
know that India achieved independence or that they had any opportunity to
return to India. They are the lost children of British colonial India. Colonial
governments forgot about them, while India had no accounts of their situation
and issues.

Hindus of Pakistan and Bangladesh

People were
not given an opportunity to choose where they may live. British colonial regime
divided the country without conducting a ground survey. India is divided into
two countries by drawing a line on the map, without conducting ground survey,
which divided the country arbitrarily overnight. In Some places the border went
through houses, and sometimes through land belonging to a farmer, putting half of
his land on one side and the other half of his land on another side. In a
complete disregard for the lives of the common people British regime did not
provide security forces on the borders leading to chaos and murder spree, which
was equal to perpetrating genocide on the part of Britain. Numerous people
found themselves stranded in the country they did not seek to live. Whatever
Pakistan might say it is the responsibility of India to provide an opportunity
for its Hindus to return to their homeland. Pakistan was created for Muslims to
give a separate nation for Muslims. If Indian Muslims desire to go to Pakistan
they must be free to do so also.Pakistan
must accept Indian Muslims freely.

Bangladesh
(East Pakistan) is another case. Bangladesh is ethnically uniform even though
it is a Muslim majority country. Bangladeshi Muslims also spoke Bengali
(although they call it Bangla), practiced syncretic style of Islam and had
nothing in common with West Pakistan. However, that does not mean that Hindus
are treated any better in Bangladesh than Pakistan. Hindu population is
mistreated and declined gradually since 1950 (28%), currently at about 8%
according to the 2011 census. Being ethnically and linguistically homogeneous
has not prevented ethnic cleansing and mass killings of Hindus in Bangladesh.

It is
heartening to note that India is considering steps to allow relocation the
mistreated minority groups from Pakistan and Bangladesh to resettle in India. Similar
facilities must be extended to Hindu diaspora across the world.

Hindus in Malaysia and other Southeast
Asian Countries

Hindus
entered and flourished in Southeast Asia since 3rd century C.E.
Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Philippines derive their early
empirical foundations from India and its early Hindu and Buddhist groups
arrived from India. More Hindus brought since the 16th century by successive
states of India join these ancient Hindus. British colonial regime brought more
Hindus to work in plantations across Southeast Asia. However, the current
status of Hindus in these countries is precarious. Although native to
Indonesia, indigenous Hinduism is not allowed to be practiced in Indonesia,
while Malaysia treats Hindus as unwanted citizens. India should recognize the
diaspora and grant overseas citizenship to all the Hindus of Southeast Asia.

Roma across European and Eurasian countries

Another
forgotten long lost diaspora of India is the Roma living across Europe and
Eurasia. Roma were forcefully removed and taken away from Indian regions
conquered by the Muslim raids from 10th century onwards for fear of
rebellions in their conquered territories. Roma are the first diaspora of
India. Hence, India should embrace this group of people immediately. Roma
across Europe and Eurasia suffered discrimination lasting over a thousand
years. Recent removal and resettlement of Roma in Ukraine (An event similar to
the Babyn Yar Tragedy of WWII) drew
criticism from Israel and Holocaust Museum of USA
(http://www.jta.org/2016/08/31/news-opinion/world/u-s-holocaust-museum-condemns-attack-on-ukrainian-roma),
but no statement from India, which shows missing place of Roma from the
national conscious of India.

Being
treated as refugees in lands where they settled for close to a thousand years
haunts the Roma across Europe and the Eurasian region. Roma are largely missing
from public debates on human rights violations. Numerous Roma across Europe
were discriminated and killed during the Second World War alongside Jews, but
Roma massacres did not draw any attention from international community. Initiatives
to create and bring awareness to Roma issues in Europe are helping raise
awareness in the recent years (http://www.errc.org/about-us-overview).

India
could be forgiven for its lack of empathy towards its diaspora in the past
since it was also under colonial rule lasting for a thousand years until 1947.
However, as India enters a new phase of development and place of strategic
importance in the international sphere, attention should be paid to its lost
children. India must support and embrace its lost children from across the
globe.

One of the greatest and successful invasions as far as colonial regimes
are concerned is the invasion Azteca (Mexico) by the Spaniards, in which a few
hundred soldiers successfully crushed a large civilization, looted enormous
amounts of gold and silver, while inflicting huge loss of life on the Aztec,
and Mexican populations, wiping out an entire civilization. Loss of cultural
heritage is almost complete. With their emperor burned at stake, their books
destroyed, their languages, cultures and life styles vanish in a mere hundred
years. What is left of this forceful Spanish occupation is a mixed South
American people and culture, commonly referred to as Latino culture a
non-European Spanish civilization, with unique elements of Catholicism mixed
with native understanding.

This fifteenth century historical incident
of invasion, occupation, and replacement of native culture on the continent of
America, has inspired colonial historians to apply this to any culture any
where in the world. Its mutations can be found in colonial dual race theories
perpetrated across the world on every continent from Africa to Australia.

All of the invasion theories have some
common elements although they are customized to fit to each region. The
invaders always came from north, fair skinned (at least fairer than others),
tall, rode horses, brought the Neolithic package (seeds, wheel and steel). Even
though contrary evidence exists in the regional cultures, it was overruled to
establish that the migration theories explain the establishment of culture and
civilization in each region. Genocide of Rwanda is a direct result of these
invasion theories. Although sharing a language and culture, colonial theories
of invasion led the Tutsi and Hutu believe that they belong to distinct racial
groups. These groups that existed in peace for thousands of years earlier were
pitched against each other since the 1800s as conquerors and the conquered
finally culminating in ethnic cleansing leading to the worst genocide of the 20th
century. According to this theory of invasion, conquest and settlement, first
setttlers of Rwanda were Hutu, who were conqured by the pastoral Tutsi (cattle
keepers) from the north possibly of Cushite origin, and hence Caucasian and
superior to the Hutus. Hence the successive colonial regimes employed the Tutsi
for in administrative positions between 1880-1950. Therefore, it is a privilege
to be recognized as Tutsi under these colonial regimes, which separated the
Tutsi and from the majority of the population while using them as ramparts of
the colonial regime against the native populations. One can only imagine what
would happen once the colonial regime fell and Rwanda became independent.

Similar system of invasion theories is
employed successfully in India to create fault lines within the native
populations of India. The first is the Aryan invasion theory- based on the
linguistic theories. This is the most imaginative application of invasion,
conquest, settlement model adopted by the West. In order to make this theory
seem real a number of corrections were needed, which were carried on very
deftly by the colonial history writers. First issue is that the Aryans were
never mentioned as a race in the Vedas. All that the Vedas talk about is Aryas,
an educated elite. Arya (its another form is ayya) is still used in India to
refer to elders and educated elite. It is changed to say Aryan a known race of
Iran. Then it gets more confusing. Aryans are considered to have conquered
Dravidians (Dravida-Dramizha-Tamila). But then who are these Aryans and
Dravidians. No such races exist by those names either in India or anywhere else.
Now wild theories are constructed on who the Aryans might have been and from
where they might have come from. Then there is also the second part of the
theory, who are the Dravidians, but for the theory to work they must be
indigenous, and also poor and uncivilized. The Dramila (so called Dravida) are
neither uncivilized tribes nor poor. Anotehr issue is that numerous elements of
South (Dramila) are prevalent in Vedic texts and Hindu practices and religion.
Therefore, some new scapegoat has to be found to fit this poor, uncivilized
tribe styreotype. As an offshoot of this necessary theoretical imbroglio, the
Dalits were fit into this mold. Some more theories were proposed which were
enthusiastically lapped up and embraced by modern day lower castes of India,
the Dalits. With one stroke of genius the colonial regime divided India
vertically into opposing sections without any regard for its history, culture,
or tradition. Professional castes of India including the leather workers
(chamars) were neither low nor poor in pre-colonial India. It was only after
the colonial regime introduced the mill-made goods for sale in India that the
professional castes of India became poor and disenfranchised from their
professions. Aryan and Dravidian languages are theoretically not that
different, but pronounced different by the colonial regime to facilitate its
program of cultural division, and racial segregation to fragment India. The
British regime did not rest easy with such broad fragmentation. It further
divided India in to various ethnic categories based on race characteristics,
calling them Martial races, etc.

The
question is does all the people speaking a single language belong to a single
race? The answer is no, when one examines language historically.